Tell us your story

One of the simplest ways you can help Stonewall Scotland is to tell us your story.

We always want to hear about the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Scotland - stories about work, education, civil partnerships, families and relationships, as well as hate crime, health, older gay, lesbian and bisexual people’s experiences, and experiences of using public services such as local councils, police or healthcare facilities. We want to hear about the good times, as well as the bad.

Stories about what life is really like for people in Scotland can make a huge difference to our campaigns, increasing media coverage, influencing MSPs and changing people’s minds. Stories can be used to support briefings for MSPs, as examples in our research reports or other publications, or as case studies for journalists.

What will we do with your story?

Personal stories are relevant to every area of our work. Whether we're explaining why hate crime legislation is essential to a Scottish Parliament committee, helping an employer understand why they need to go the extra mile for their LGBT staff, talking to schools about homophobic bullying or explaining to a public service provider why they need to make sure they're inclusive of everyone, a personal story which explains how it feels to be in that situation can get the message across more clearly than anything else.

We get a lot of calls from journalists wanting to speak to LGBT people about their experiences. This can be a fantastic opportunity to promote positive examples of LGBT people and fight stereotypes and negative perceptions on a huge range of issues, or to highlight the problems we still face. Your stories can make a huge difference, increasing media coverage and changing people's minds.

We can assure total anonymity if you prefer and will support you through any media work you are happy to undertake. Whatever you want us to use your story for, and whether or not you'd like us to use your name, get in touch.